Rising Songbird
by Swanstream
Summary: As Jenna sits on the steps of her early death, she reanimates her memories of the day she heard the call of music. And followed it. Sucky Summary, please give it a chance. HIATUS
1. 5 Years Ago

**Here is an idea I got. I hope you all like it, and I don't own Degrassi! Enjoy!**

I never thought I would find myself in the situation of dying so young, 16 years. I always dreamed of growing old, watching the wrinkles move into my face, me trying on every known-to-man skin product to get rid of them, living my dreams of taking on the big time, but all that was shattered the moment I made the decision to go into labor during the audition. Wait, maybe I should backtrack. Like, maybe about 11 years ago when I got my first guitar…

11 Years Ago

It was summer, and the kids were celebrating the graduation of the end of a school year. Of course, for us 5th graders, it was an even bigger celebration. We were going on to middle school.

"Isn't this great Jenna?" squealed Katty, my best friend. I grinned and played with a strand of Katty's gorgeous flaming red hair.

"Totally! I was waiting for this day for like, forever!" I cheered. And we walked out of Lincoln Elementary School hand in hand. I was honestly looking forward to the summer. Mommy had promised me that I could finally start my interest in music with my first guitar! I was so excited, I was finally taking my first steps to becoming a pop star! Ever since I was a kid, I had sung my soul to the sky. My brother, Kyle called me a nuisance and that I would never get it big, but I never believed him. I knew I had the lungs to finally live my dream.

As I screamed goodbye to Katty, promising to see her over the summer, I looked up at my brick apartment excitedly. Who knew what Mommy had in store for me when I got home? I squealed and shot straight home, my feet barely touching the cement ground. What kind of guitar would I get? An electric, an acoustic? I really wanted an acoustic. Something about the way it sounded. It made my heart fly. The electric wasn't bad, but I didn't really seem like the punk rocker type of person. But, of course all different genres can come out of an electric too.

As soon as I flew through the door, I saw Mommy grinning at me with they car keys. My smile faded a little once I didn't find a guitar, but my hopes immediately perked when Mommy smiled her Mommy smile and said, "let's go find you a guitar!"

As I entered Jakey's Music Store, I saw a nice lady behind the counter. She grinned, showing yellowish teeth and said in a nasally voice, "what can I get you doll?" I giggled and flipped my pale blonde hair cutely.

"My first guitar!" I responded. The lady smirked and pointed to a long rack that filled up most of the store with guitars. I gasped and slowly walked over, my eyes intent on the gorgeous instruments before me. I touched the beautiful designs tenderly, as if even the slightest pressure would break it. I smiled wide as I strummed the chords randomly, making the most beautiful noise. Mommy came up behind me and asked me if that was the one I wanted. I shook my head, and scrounged for other guitars that more suited my taste.

The store was full of guitars, all different colors and shapes! I couldn't decide which to get. I wanted this really pretty navy blue one with little silver stars on the side, but Mommy said it was too expensive. I shrugged and moved on. There were plenty more that I really liked.

An hour passed and I still hadn't picked a guitar. Mommy was starting to get annoyed, she kept looking at her Rolex watch impatiently. I started to get giddy, so I hurried up and raced through the stores, searching for the right one. I just couldn't find one!

"Jenna, dear. It's past 6, we need to get home." Mommy said gently. Tears welled up in my eyes as she led me away from the store. I started to cry as Mommy forced me into the car. I cried all the way home.

~oOo~

As I walked through the door of our apartment, tears still flowed down my cheeks like a tiny river. When Mommy promised me that we could shop for one online, I shook my head and raced to my room. I slammed the door behind me and flew to my bed and buried my face into my pillows and wallowed in my own pity.

In the midst of my bawling, the door knocked and slightly opened. At first I thought it was Mommy, but then I saw the dirty blonde hair of Kyle. I looked up, my eyes all puffy like cotton candy and screamed at him to close the door. When he ignored me and sat at the foot of my bed, I frowned and attempted to throw a fluffy pink pillow at him, but I missed. Kyle sat there awkwardly for a moment before meeting me eye to eye and blushing.

"Tomorrow, after school, we can bike to the store again and buy you a guitar." he said softly. It took me a moment to process what he said before flinging my arms around his neck happily.

"THANK YOU!" I shrieked before he covered my mouth in panic. I looked at him questioningly before he said urgently, "Mom might hear and stop us. Shush!" I grin as he walked out of my room and shut the door behind him. Flopping back down on my light purple bed, I thought about how great Kyle was. He was only my half brother, from another father, but we had both got Mommy's blonde hair. Nonetheless, he was a great brother, and I was grateful.

I was getting my guitar.

~oOo~

_Click_ went the lock as I securely fastened my bike to the rack. Kyle led me into the store and I racked my memory, thinking of a guitar that would be perfect for me. I really wanted an acoustic, one with silver tuners that sparkled as I danced while singing, one that made a noise as beautiful as an angel's harp. That would be the perfect guitar.

I looked for the punk lady at the front desk and saw that she was replaced with a prettier, brunette with dashes of pretty freckles and deep navy blue eyes. I smiled and she smiled back. I looked up at Kyle and saw him gaga-ing over a girl that looked about 15, only one year younger than Kyle. I tugged on his shoulder impatiently and he unwillingly dragged his gaze away.

"Right, your guitar. Which one do you want?" he said quickly. I pointed to the acoustics and pulled him over. He took one last glance at the girl before following me.

I scanned the guitars for the second time, only this time, I strummed them carefully, listening to their sound. Finally, we reached the end, and it only too 45 minutes. Much less than yesterday.

I had narrowed it down to 2 that I _really_ loved. One was a wooden one with silver knobs and a hollow, rich sound. The other was black with silver patterns and black tuners. It made a crisp, but fresh sound, also gorgeous. I couldn't decide.

Kyle had $250 bucks with him he had been saving for a new car (don't worry, he had much more money than this, this was only a proportion of the car money. Duh, cars cost a lot.), so he suggested looking at the prices. I nodded nervously and peeked at the prices of the guitars. I sighed in relief as the price was only $225. Kyle said something about it not lasting long, because it was cheap but I knew he was grateful that it was in his price range. I looked at the wooden acoustic, the one that looked and sounded like the guitar of my dreams. I grinned confidently as I took a swift peek at the tag. My heart dropped dead to the ground as I saw that it was $550 dollars. I looked at the black one that now didn't seem as fantastic to me anymore and frowned. I grabbed the black guitar roughly and dragged it to the desk to pay.

When we left the store and got home, I strummed the guitar for the first time. It still sounded crisp and fresh, like the season fall, but the wooden one had sounded like spring melting into summer. I huffed as I took the tutorial book that had come with the guitar and started to teach myself how to play.

**How did that turn out? I really hope that I did okay. Plus, check out my other story about Fitz! It's based on ****A Walk to Remember****. Anyway, thanks for reading!**

**~Swanie**


	2. 4 Years Ago

**Only one review? Aww. Maybe people will like this better. This is Jenna's first concert. Yay! Enjoy! I don't own Degrassi. I tried to lure the Degrassi cast with cookies, but I failed miserably.**

4 Years Ago

I smirked behind the velvet blue curtain as Sage O'Brian tap-danced on stage for the Variety show for Barnes Middle School and Redwood Middle School. I clutched my guitar firmly and grinned. This was going to be the best night of my life. I was singing a song that I wrote, and I thought it was pretty good!

"And that was Sage O'Brian! Let's give her a round of applause!" cheered the principal. I smiled at Sage who skipped past me as she exited off stage. Her black shoes made little clacking noises as she walked away. I looked down at my ratty gray sequined flats and shrugged. I looked okay with my faded blue tank top and white skinny jeans. My light blonde hair was in a messy ponytail, and I was wearing my star dangle earrings. Momma had done my nails the day before, so they were a metallic silver with black vine patterns. Everyone said I looked perfect.

"And now we have Jenna Middleton with her own original song, Me and You!" Principal Karter said. People started to clap and I felt a pat on my back. It was Katty and Lynna wishing me goodluck.

"You go girlie!" squealed Katty. Lynna smiled and gently pushed me on stage. I grinned, flashing my white teeth as I readied on stage. I looked up and immediately flinched. The light was so bright, and I couldn't even see the crowd, thought I knew the auditorium was packed. My legs threatened to buckled from under me as the crowd waited for me to start.

"Jenna! Start singing!" snapped Katty from behind the curtain. I slowly dragged my gaze away from the crowd to look at Katty and Lynna. Both girls nodded and gave me thumbs up. My heart fell as Principal Karter caught my eye. Her blue eyes indicated me to sing, but… I couldn't. I had forgotten my own song! The crowd started to mutter, and I started to hyperventilate. I clutched the arm of my guitar tightly before I heard my name.

"Jenna!" hissed Lynna. I quickly darted my gaze to the brunette. Lynna started to mouth the words. I gaped and nodded rapidly before I shakily started to sing. At first, my voice sounded shaky, but when I heard the lyrics behind me coming out of Katty and Lynna, my talent came out of its shell, and I shone.

_Me and you. You and me. We are the perfect thing to be._

_Honey, I know that we just met, but I there is one thing I can bet, is…_

_You and Me! You are the sun the shines on me, you are the wind that blows too free!_

_You and Me! You are the raindrops on my petals, you are the braces and I am the metal. Yeah! Yeahhh!_

_At first, I never thought of you this way. Baby, I thought that you were nothing more, than just a person._

_But now that I see you, I can't stop looking! I hope you feel the same._

_You and Me! You are the flour to the birthday cake, you are the milk to my strawberry shake!_

_You and Me! You are the winter before the spring, you are the birds that will always sing, in the morning._

_I hope that when you hear this song. You can feel the same, way I do. Cuz there's nothing better than Me and You, You and Meeee!_

_You and Me! You are the mine and I'm the diamonds, you are the computer and I'm the keyboard._

_You and Me! You are the sponge, and I am the pink star!_

_You and Me. When you hear this song, I'll hope you know..._

The first thing I heard after that last note was the ear splitting shriek of Katty and Lynna. Then the roaring of the crowd. I blinked rapidly as I stood there stunned for a moment. Then a hand fluttered on my shoulder. It was Principal Karter, her blue eyes bright with pride and amusement.

"That was dear Jenna Middleton with her song, Me and You!" she cheered. The crowd clapped and hooted. I swear, I felt my feet lift off the ground as I walked backstage.

Suddenly, Katty and Lynna tackled me to the ground, squealing. "Jenna-na! You did it!" screamed Katty, using the ridiculous nick name she gave me in 2nd grade. Katty's flaming red hair flapped as she bounced around me in a circle.

"Awesome job, Middleton!" Lynna patted me on the back. I hugged both of them tightly before I heard a familiar voice behind me.

"Great job Jenna!" Momma squealed. Kyle stood behind her with a grin on his face. I hugged all of them before I looked back on stage longingly as Mitchell Peters played with his band, The Epic Ride. I wanted to be on that stage again. Despite my rough start, my heart felt at home on stage, like I was meant to be there.

"Come on, Jenna-na. We need to go home." I unwillingly dragged my blue gaze away from stage to my family waiting for me.

"Okay." I said softly as I left the auditorium. As I grew further and further from the stage, I felt as if the angel wings I had grown on stage were slowly wilting. I frowned as the imaginary plucking feeling increased as I ut my guitar away. When we walked to the parking lot, Momma clung onto my hand tightly, as if she was afraid that my sprouting wings would pry me away.

_Don't worry._ I thought._ They're not there anymore_.

~oOo~

As I got out of the car, after dropping Katty and Lynna off, Kyle and Momma held me back before getting into our apartment.

"Jenna, I have to tell you something." Momma said seriously. I looked up questioningly at Momma and Kyle, but their faces gave nothing away.

"What?" I squeaked. Momma sighed and sat me down in the car. "Jenna, honey. Your dad is back." I shrugged. Daddy always came back from the truckstop late, what's the deal?

"So? I muttered." Kyle ran his hand through his hair weakly.

"Jenna, not my dad. Your dad. Your real dad." And with those words, the last bits on my angel wings fell off, along with the strength of my legs and… generally all my muscles.

"Honey? Are you okay?" Momma said softly. Tears welled into my eyes as memories came back.

_"Bitch, get another fucking job!" snarled my dad. Momma sobbed on the floor._

_"I can't! I've tried! Really!" she wailed. Dad rounded up on her again. I watched from the peephole in the door. I was supposed to be sleeping, but the sound of Momma and Dad's yelling woke me up for the 5th time that week. Well, every night so far._

_"Who's gonna pay all those damn taxes? Who's gonna pay for food? Who's gonna pay for my cigarettes and beer? I need money for my poker parties, you know!" screeched Dad. Momma shook her head, her long dirty blonde hair waving around._

_"Why can' you help me? I swear, if maybe you helped, and I find a job-" _smack_. I flinched as a shriek sounded from my mother. Dad had hit her again._

_"Don't talk to me like that bitch! I provide a roof over your damn head, and this is how you repay me? Maybe I should dump you out on the streets, like I found you 10 years ago!" I frowned as I always did when they talked about before I was born._

_"Get a damn job!" _smack_. I gasped as I saw a tiny pool of blood well from the corner of Momma's head. Beer bottle shards surrounded her body, the top of the bottle in Dad's hand. I gave out a tiny squeak. Immediately, I covered my mouth, but it was too late. He saw me._

_"GO BACK TO YOUR DAMN ROOM!" shrieked Dad as he pointed a beer bottle shard at me. I scrambled back to my room- well. No, the laundry room before Dad could reach me._

_Dad never hit me, but I feared it was only a matter of time…_

"He's back?" I said flatly. Momma nodded, and that's when everything turned black.

**Cliche, I know. It gets better though! I hope. :)**

**~Swanie**


	3. Author's Note

**Hey guys. Im sorry if you thought this was another chapter, but it's actually an author's note.**

**The thing is I won't be updating any stories for a while. Most of you know that my friend recently died of leukemia cancer, and I have had a hard time dealing with it. So, all my stories will be on hiatus, as well as my BETA reader profile. I will totally understand if you lose interest in my stories, it's totally fine with me. Just so you know, I WON'T be quitting the stories, I just need some space until I get over her death. Thank you all for understanding, I can't guarantee an update date, but I swear to put up a note when I finally start to write the next chapter. Thank you, and- oh wait. Um, I want to leave you guys with a little question box… thing.**

**Have you ever lost someone (pets included, duh) or something really close to you, and how did you cope with it? Cuz honestly, I'm not coping too well. Anyway, leave a review telling me, or if you don't want to, that's okay. See ya, and thank you for your support. I love you guys!**

**~Swanie**


	4. 3 Years Ago

**What is this? An update? WOW! Anyway, recap, Jenna just had her first concert, and her abusive biological dad is back. Noo! Anyway, here it is! The next chapter of ****Rising Songbird****.**

**Oh, and thank you to all who understood about my situation, I was going through a tough time, and you all were so sweet! You all deserve this chapter! Also, this story will be at least 10 chapters long, so yea.**

3 Years Ago

It was less than a year since Dad had come back. My real dad. Kyle had left me. He went to go live in his dad's apartment. I really missed him.

Momma wouldn't let me go with Kyle, she said that his dad and she were still married, but my real daddy needed help.

I have to admit, _Dad_ wasn't as bad as I remembered him to be. He didn't hit Momma. He stayed on the couch, looking like a lifeless potato. Once, I had snarled at him to get a job. He didn't respond, but Momma sent me to my room for a week. I was grounded.

Everything was peaceful. I saw Kyle often, I saw my other Daddy the same amount I did when my biological dad wasn't here. It wasn't a lot.

Life _was_ boring…

I miss boring.

~oOo~

I saw it. On Momma's face. That ugly yellowish, purplish black splotch on her high cheekbone. I gasped when I saw the mark during breakfast, and Momma covered my mouth, making me promise to not tell anyone, especially Kyle or his dad. I had no choice but to nod, and then I took off for school.

School dragged on. Katty and Lynna tried to talk to me at lunch, along with Michelle and Deanna, my new best friends. I wasn't really in the mood. The whole day, my brain buzzed on and on about what happened to Momma's cheek. Was Dad hitting her? Why? Why now? He was quiet and sober for a whole year, what happened?

"JENNA MIDDLETON!" called Ms. Rosen, my english teacher. I snapped back to reality, and looked at my teacher wildly.

"Y-yes, Ms. Rosen?" I stammered. The young, blonde teacher looked at me blankly and pointed towards the office.

"The dean called you down." she murmured faintly. I warily gathered my stuff, whispering goodbye to Deanna and Lynna who were in my english class before slowly walking down to the dean's suite. Obviously, I was nervous. I know I was zoning out all day, but none of my other teachers had commented on it! Was it something else? Or… did Momma need me?

As I timidly rounded the corner to the dean's suite, I saw Kyle's blonde fuzzy head in the office, his back shaking as he crouched over. His head was in his hands, and my school councilor, Mrs. White spoke to him quietly. My eyes narrowed, confused and I barged into the dean's suite.

"Kyle, whats-" I stopped when I saw my big step-brother's bloodshot eyes, bags sagging under his eyes, ragged clothes that looked like pajamas, and pale face.

Kyle suddenly stood up and grabbed me into a bear hug. I squeaked when he hugged a little too tight, and the breathe was knocked out of me.

"Kyle… air… please!" I gasped. He slacked the hug a little, but didn't let go. I suddenly, felt a hand on my shoulder, and I saw Mrs. White looking at me sorrowfully.

"Miss Middleton, Mr. Middleton, please come into my office." I nodded and pried Kyle off me as we headed towards Mrs. White's office.

I had no idea what was coming until I saw Kyle's dad- my stepfather sitting in the office, eyes blood red too.

Mrs. White sat me down in the middle of Daddy and Kyle and began to speak.

"Would you like to tell her, Mr. Middleton, or shall I…" the elderly councilor started. Daddy shook his head, his blue and red trucker hat falling off, no one bothering to get it.

Daddy avoided my eyes, but still spoke in a cracked tone. "Jenna, your mother… and your father died today…." fresh tears welled down Daddy's face, and I felt Kyle hold on to me tighter. I froze for a moment, not comprehending the words that Daddy was telling me. They swirled in my brain like alphabet soup until I was able to speak.

"What?" I whispered. Mrs. White grabbed a tissue and dabbed at her own watering eyes. "Sweetie, you mother and father died in a house fire today. Police are still searching for the cause, but it's positive that no one could have survived such a violent fire." I cringed as the words slowly started to come together and make sense. Horrible, deadly sense.

"I…" my voice trailed off as everyone besides me started to cry. I sat there, stunned, listening to the broken sobs of the people around me.

_People,_ I thought. We were just people. We all died, we all live. Momma was gone, and so was Dad. People.

I sat there, frozen in my thoughts as Kyle, Daddy and Mrs. White cried their eyes out.

_We are all people. We all die, and when we do… we don't get a second chance._ When this thought occurred to me, I felt the upcoming stinging in my blue eyes. That's when I joined Daddy, Kyle and Mrs. White. I started to cry.

**Sad chapter. I'm sorry. But this needed to happen in order for everything to fit. Thanks for reading, and REVIEW!**

**~Swanie**


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